sword and sorcery genre rpg

[Henrix]

I'd really recommend the Sorcerer supplement Sorcerer & Sword to anyone wanting to run a S&S game, regardless of what system they'll use.

Burning Wheel does S&S really well, too. Probably my first pick if I'd run a really S&S game.
It gets a bit heavy to run if there are many players - it's better with two or three than four or more.

 

[Atlatl Jones]

There are lots of generic systems that can do S&S without much work (many of them such as True 20, Savage Worlds, and GURPS mentioned by Aus Snow above), though actual genre RPGs tailored specifically to Howard-esque Swords & Sorcery are pretty rare. I can think of. . .

Conan (GURPS): Out of Print
Conan Role-Playing Game (TSR): Out of Print, but cloned
Conan (Mongoose): In Print
Iron Heroes (White Wolf): In Print
The Riddle of Steel: Out of Print

The Savage World of Solomon Kane is a standalone game that also fits very well. It uses the Savage Worlds RPG as its base, tailored to fit Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane, one of the great classic S&S heroes.

 

[The_Gneech]

S&S Saga... (snip)

Thanks for the plug!

-The Gneech

 

[TerraDave]

D&D 4E with martial classes only, no magic items (just give bonuses) and maybe, just maybe allow multiclassing into warlock or use something a la spellscarred.

I think 4E has a little more swords and sorcery in it then it gets credit for, and this would be interesting to try.

 

[S'mon]

BRP Elric/Stormbringer is good, and not as complex as Runequest. Also check out Mongoose's BRP Lankhmar.

Games I've enjoyed for S&S include D&D, modified D&D (1e Lankhmar), OGL Conan, and my own d6 based system:

http://www.geocities.com/s.t.newman/EaToC2.html

 

[Ktulu]

I'm currently running a HIGHLY Howard inspired S&S game while borrowing a ton from the Thieve's World books (not the game) in 4e. Only martial classes, granting bonuses at 3rd & 8th to def, ac, attack, damage, respectively.

The biggest changes are I cut out the non humans. So far, it's worked out great. I toned down the gods, so there's a Sun god, a barbarian's god(s), and a few others that people pay lip service to, but don't gain any power from them.


I've also played the Sorcerer game, above. It works very well as a narrative style game. I enjoy it.

 

[jdrakeh]

The Savage World of Solomon Kane is a standalone game that also fits very well. It uses the Savage Worlds RPG as its base, tailored to fit Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane, one of the great classic S&S heroes.

Solomon Kane isn't technically Swords & Sorcery by genre definition, as his world is that of contemporary Earth (which is not an accepted feature of Swords & Sorcery genre fiction). Solomon Kane appears to be more correctly grouped as Action Horror, though I agree that you could adapt it to Swords & Sorcery if you add your own setting and drop the comntemporary Earth aspects of the system — that seems like a lot of work, though.

 

[The_Gneech]

Well, Elizabethan Earth, anyway.

-TG

 

[Daniel D. Fox]

Sword and Sorcery is fairly easy with 4e, especially since a lot of the "plot-killer" magic (cheat death, cheat the dungeon, cheat the villain's hideout) has been rendered into Rituals - which, by the way, makes magic truly special and fitting for a low magic game.

If you're looking for a setting, check out Lankhmar or the Conan D20 books. For the system, use 4E.

 

[Ry]

I've played LOTS and LOTS of In A Wicked Age and I can recommend it very, very highly for getting the Sword and Sorcery feel. IAWA is my favorite game written by someone who isn't me.